Unexpected Love
by A Scarlet Rebel
Summary: Padma never knew love. Her whole life, she made sure her heart was never damaged or broken. But, now a certain Slytherin boy by the name of Blaise Zabini has taken a liking to Padma, and she’s not sure how she feels. Can Padma trust this Slytherin?
1. Meeting Blaise

Unexpected Love

Chapter 1:

Meeting Blaise

Padma Patil was just walking down the halls that fine September day. She wasn't walking with her sister Parvati and her best friend Lavender because they both had Herbology that time of the day, while Padma had Transfiguration. The classes where on the two opposite sides of Hogwarts, hence her walking to Transfiguration alone.

The Ravenclaw fifth years had Transfiguration with the Slytherins. Oh joy. Padma could hardly wait. Did you notice the hint of sarcasm?

Padma was just walking, hugging her books to her chest, walking in a rhythmatic pattern, knowing the way to the Transfiguration class by heart. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, so she didn't see a student stop to check something right in front of her, breaking the easy flow of the students walking down the halls.

Now, every student who had been looking up saw the boy stop and swerved to avoid the collision, but, of course, Padma didn't see.

BAM! Padma crashed right into the unsuspecting student, sending them both flying towards the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" she heard a male voice say from a little to her right. It sounded like the unforgiving voice of a Slytherin.

There were barely any people left in the hallways, and the last ones that had remained quickly veered into their classrooms, leaving the corridor nearly empty. Nearly, that is, except for the two students who had just fallen to the ground.

Padma silently cursed herself. _Great, Paddy. Real smart. You _really_ deserve to be a Ravenclaw…._

She sat up, and slowly the fuzziness in her eyes from the collision receded.

Now, Padma could vaguely see the back of the stranger's head. He had dark hair…. That didn't say much.

As she attempted to pick up the five different books she had been holding that flew in five different directions, the mysterious boy looked up.

The first thing Padma noticed about him was the color on his Hogwarts tie: Silver and Green. He was a Slytherin. Padma grimaced slightly, getting ready for the earful she was about to receive.

When the boy first looked up, he looked like he was about to say something, and he had this assertive light in his eyes; typical Slytherin. But, as soon as he laid eyes on Padma, his gaze softened. The threatening air that had once surrounded him suddenly dissolved.

"Oh, um, sorry about that," the boy said, being the first to speak. He rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain of what to do next. "Here," he scrambled, "let me help you pick these books up."

"Oh no, it's ok," Padma said, trying to pick up her stubborn Charms book. "You don't have to get them, it's fine."

"No, really," he said, reaching for her Potions book. "It's the least I could do for crashing into you."

"That's fine, it was really _my_ fault," she mumbled loud enough for him to hear in reply. "I wasn't looking were I was going… you don't have to--"

"It's no big deal, really," he said, handing Padma her History of Magic book.

"Thanks," Padma said sheepishly, taking the book from him. She looked around at isolated corridor and realized that she would soon be late. "Um, I have to go. Thanks, again."

"Hey, wait!" The boy went after her, holding something in his hand. "You forgot this."

It was Padma's Transfiguration book.

"Oh, thank you!" Padma said, gratefully taking the book. "I need that. That's for my next class."

"Really?" The boy asked, mildly surprised. "Because, _my_ next class is Transfiguration."

"Oh," Padma said, not really sure what to say. "Ok, then."

The boy smiled at her. "Maybe I can walk with you. Or, you know, if that makes you uncomfortable, I can take the long way and walk around the other side of the school. It'll take me twenty minutes, but I'd get there."

Padma merely muttered, "You can walk with me," clearly seeing that there was no getting rid of this mysterious boy.

After they had walked for about two minutes in absolute silence, the boy spoke up.

"I'm Blaise Zabini," he said, looking at Padma in wonder. "What's YOU'RE name?"

"Oh… I'm Padma Patil," she said, not expecting a question from him. She hugged her books closer to her chest.

"Patil… interesting." He looked at her and said these things like he was genuinely curious. "I can see you're a Ravenclaw," he said, pointing at her house tie.

"And _I _can see that YOU'RE a Slytherin," she replied, saying more coldly than she had intended.

"Hey, relax," he said, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "We're not ALL bad. Don't worry, I won't put a hex on you or whatever it is you think I'll do." But, he smiled when he said it.

Padma blushed, then said, "Oh no. I didn't mean it like that! I was just saying that you're a Slytherin."

"Sure you were…," he said, grinning at her.

Padma looked at her feet. She wasn't sure what to do. She had always been a very safe and cautious person, and this Slytherin was setting off every alarm in her head. But, the way he hadn't shunned her for bumming into him made her wonder….

"So, are you up for McGonagall's quiz today on Animagus?" he asked, then pointing at her many books, added, "Well, I'm sure a smart Ravenclaw such as yourself doesn't have to worry about a little quiz."

Padma suddenly looked up. Was he making fun of her, calling her a smart little Ravenclaw, or… what this normal behavior for males? Padma was so inexperienced with things like this… anything, for that matter, to do with the opposite gender.

She decided she should atleast answer the statement. "Well, I don't expect the quiz should be all that hard. I mean, it's just a matter of being able to identify the different characteristics of an Animagus, then just put it all down on paper--"

Blaise interrupted her. "Wow, I was right. Only a Ravenclaw would be able to tell me so much about an Animagus quiz, and why it _won't_ be hard." He smiled cockily in her direction.

Padma became suddenly very interested in her shoes. _Was_ he making fun of her? She felt like spitting back at him, "And only a _Slytherin _would be able to point that out." But, she didn't. She was afraid of the response she might get back.

They walked alittle further in silence, Padma staring down at the floor and Blaise trying to figure out what to do next. They were nearly at McGonagall's classroom, so Blaise figured that their time to talk was running out.

"So," he started off lamely, "how do you like the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

Blaise mentally cursed himself. _That_ was all he could say?! Some ladies man he was….

Padma was sort of surprised. That was kind of a normal question…. "Um, well I haven't really known her for long, but I'm _definitely_ not getting a good vibe from her. I mean, we're only studying Defense _theory._ That's completely unfair! On our O.W.L'S we are going to be given involves actually DOING defense spells. Plus, we're NEVER going to actually _need_ theory!"

Blaise nodded in agreement. "Plus, have you seen the woman's office?" He made circles around his ears and crossed his eyes, signaling that Professor Umbridge was crazy. "It's full of cats and pink! There's not even that much pink in my younger cousin's room!"

Padma laughed. Wait, she _actually_ laughed?! What was wrong with her?! Never, not even once, had she found something ANY boy had ever said funny. Gross and inappropriate, yes, but NEVER funny.

They had made it to the Transfiguration classroom. Padma went forward to open the door, but Blaise beat her to it.

He grabbed the handle of the door and held it open. When Padma thought he would walk in before her, he _still_ held it open.

"After you," he said, motioning Padma to go forward. "Ladies first."

Padma found herself blushing and muttering, "Thank you."

She walked into the classroom, avoiding the gaze of her fellow Ravenclaws and the snickers from the Slytherins. Padma Patil is… late? She was usually NEVER late. What had the world come to…?

Padma walked all the way to her seat without looking up. She sat down at her desk, expecting to hear McGonagall give her usual lecture on being late… the same one Padma had usually watched her give to _other _students.

When the speech did not come, Padma became surprised. She looked up, to see that Professor McGonagall wasn't in the room. Not even in cat form!

Padma looked around twice just to make sure. She couldn't believe her luck! The one day she was late, was the one day Professor McGonagall hadn't arrived to her own classroom yet!

She looked behind her, and saw, sitting two rows behind her and one to the left, Blaise sitting there, looking almost as amazed as she looked. Then, the cocky grin found his face again, as he smiled in her direction and shrugged, as if to say, 'Oh well, she's not here. We're safe.'

Padma turned back to her desk and smiled slightly to herself. _Safe,_ she thought. Padma didn't know if she knew the meaning of that word anymore.


	2. Confusing the Signs

_Author's Note:_ Hello, everyone! I AM BACK! Hope you enjoy this new chapter! Better late than never!

Gheihsghwhe. Sorry about that. That was my cousin, trying to type fast.

Anyway, enjoy!

-Scars

* * *

Chapter 2:

Confusing the Signs

The rest of the Transfigurations class, Padma could barely concentrate. All that was on her mind was the dark Slytherin she met today, and how whenever she attempted to even catch a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye, she always found him staring right back at her. She couldn't even concentrate on her Animagus quiz! She only felt Blaise's eyes on her, watching her.

When they were all finally dismissed, Padma nearly ran out of the door, glad to be out of there, and going to search for her sister.

Too bad she was blocked by Blaise Zabini.

The minute she began to walk away from the classroom and was nearly twenty feet away from the airtight class, she felt the familiar feeling of someone studying her.

Padma turned to face Blaise, who was walking close behind her.

"Hey, I didn't see you there," Blaise said smoothly, though Padma could tell he was lying through his teeth. Of course he saw her there. He had basically FOLLOWED her out of the room.

"Sure you didn't," Padma replied, just as he would do to her. She didn't know much about Blaise Zabini, but from what she had learned about him from the last hour was that he was cocky and certainly didn't mind using sarcasm. But… he didn't seem like any other Slytherin to her. He seemed… almost _bearable._

Blaise grinned at her, and for some reason, Padma's cheeks lit aflame. "Man, a guy can't hide ANYTHING from a Ravenclaw, especially one as clever as yourself."

Padma's face was burning brighter by the second. "Um… thank you, I guess."

She still couldn't tell if he was really complimenting her, calling her smart and whatnot, or if he was making fun of her. Sort of teasing her about being a Ravenclaw, like any Slytherin would do.

But… Blaise seemed so… different from the rest. Why would he do that?

Padma, at that moment, felt very confused and the redness in her checks still wasn't receding.

"So," he asked suddenly, breaking Padma away from her train of thought and back to reality, "where are you headed, now that it's the end of the school day? And, might I add, it is also a beautiful Friday afternoon."

Padma just shrugged, not totally sure of what to do. "I was just planning on finding my sister--"

Blaise looked at her with a quizzical look on his face. "You have a sister?"

"Yes," she answered simply. "We're twins."

"Twins, huh?" he asked, sound very curious. "So, there's another girl who looks exactly like you, walking around this castle?"

Padma just nodded. "Yes, we're identical. Why, is that a bad thing that there's basically another Padma in the school?" She smiled at him.

Blaise returned the grin, and then replied, "No, actually, that, to me, is a good thing. A miracle, even."

Padma blushed harder than ever and looked down at the floor as they walked.

Had he just called her pretty… or was he teasing her? Teasing her about being a twin?

Slytherins were so confusing.

There she was, thinking all of them were evil slime balls that couldn't be trusted or befriended. But… here comes along the one Slytherin that ISN'T that way. Or… was he just pretending?

Padma groaned inwardly in her head.

When Blaise noticed her silence, her turned to her, feeling concerned.

"Padma… are you alright?" he asked, suddenly stopped walking and looked at her. "Do you feel ok?"

Padma stopped too, not knowing what made her feet stop moving. "I'm fine. It's ok. Let's just go."

"Are you sure?" he questioned her again.

"Yeah, let's go, really."

Blaise could tell that by the sound of her voice, she was lying. She WASN'T ok.

He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away, causing Padma to become frozen.

The only thing she was fully aware of was Blaise, holding her arm. She was under the penetrating gaze of his dark brown eyes that seemed to match his short hair perfectly.

"I'm not sure that you're alright," he said, putting his hand up. "Come here, let me see."

Padma's brain was telling her to pull away and to run, far away from this Slytherin boy. He was setting of the alarms in her head like there was no tomorrow. But… Padma was ignoring reason and her common sense of Slytherins, for the first time in her life. She was disregarding safety and everything that she knew.

He was standing directly in front of her. Padma had to look up to at him to look him in the eyes. His eyes weren't harsh; they were actually soft… and looked almost… _kind_.

"Are you REALLY sure you're ok?" he asked once more, his hand half raised at his side.

Padma's tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. She shook her head, not certain if she was alright.

"Let me see," he said, placing his hand on her forehead. He looked at her, and, while Padma's brain was telling her to run away again, her feet lost the ability to move. The skin beneath his fingers seemed to tingle with warmth.

After they had stood like that, time seeming to be frozen for about two seconds, Blaise put his hand down and backed away.

"Well, you don't _feel_ warm… maybe you're just tired."

"Tired… yeah." Padma backed away too.

"Padma!" someone yelled her name from behind her.

Padma turned around, and saw her sister, running toward her, Parvati's best friend Lavender barely keeping up.

"Is that your sister?" Blaise asked, looking at Parvati. "She looks JUST like you."

"I know," Padma replied, looking down at her feet.

"But, personally," he said, smiling at her, "I think you're the prettier twin."

Padma blushed and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Thanks," she said sheepishly, barely muttering it.

"Well, I can see you have to go," Blaise said, clapping his hands together and backing further away from her, "so… bye, Padma." He walked away a little before turning around and adding, "See you around, Ravenclaw." He laughed to himself as he walked away.

Padma meekly waved at him, murmuring, "Later, Slytherin." But he was too far away to hear her.

"Padma! Paddy, there you are!" Her sister came up behind her and tapped her shoulder, hardly breathing hard after her run to the other side of the castle.

Lavender, on the other hand, was breathing VERY hard. After Lavender had regained her breath enough to talk, she turned to Padma and asked, "Was that Blaise Zabini?"

Padma nodded. "Yeah."

Parvati scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What was he doing talking to you?"

She just shook her head. "I… I don't know."

"Well, let's go," Parvati said, putting her arm through her sister's, pulling her feet from where she had stood rooted, then grabbed her best friend's arm. "It's Friday, after all."

Padma just walked with her, not thinking about where she was going, just letting Parvati lead her outside, her thoughts only on Blaise and about how confusing he was.

* * *

That afternoon, when the three girls were outside, Lavender had left to go to the bathroom. Padma had taken this time to confront her sister.

"Parvati?"

"Yeah?" she replied curiously, both of them lying and the base of a giant oak tree.

"Can I talk to you?" Padma asked her, a little uncertain about telling her sister what was on her mind.

Parvati smiled at her. "Isn't that what you are doing?"

Padma grinned a little bit, before the grin disappeared from her face. "Vati… I want to talk to you about… about Blaise."

Parvati fell silent for a while before she said, "Yeah, you were talking to him earlier. What about him?"

"It just that…." Padma didn't know how to say it. "He's sort of confusing me."

Parvati sat up a little straighter to look at her sister in the eye. "What do you mean by that, Paddy?"

Padma took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's just that… I think he's making fun of me… in a way."

"What?!" Parvati felt enraged that someone would make fun of her sister, her twin, her blood. "He's making fun of you?!"

"Sort of," Padma replied. "Like… he says things like I'm a smart little Ravenclaw and how I think quizzes are easy, being so smart, and he called me…." She felt herself blushing at the memory. How could she tell her sister?

"What? What did he call you, Paddy?" Parvati asked, wanting to know so she could destroy Zabini.

"He… he called me pretty."

When Padma received no reply, she blushed even harder.

"He called you pretty?" Parvati smiled, and then giggled a little. "Well, what's so bad about that, Padma?"

Padma's face was a deep crimson as she replied, "Well, I just don't know if he's being serious OR if he's saying it in a way that… that's meant to hurt me, or make fun of me."

Parvati scrunched her eyebrows together. "Paddy… usually, when a boy says that you're pretty, he doesn't say it in a way that's meant to hurt you--"

"But… he's a SLYTHERIN!" Padma groaned in frustration. "He CAN'T be different! He CAN'T be nice!"

Parvati nodded and smiled sadly. "I see where you're coming from, but you never really know a person until… you get to know them. Who knows? Maybe Blaise could be… nice."

Padma nodded, but still felt uneasy. "But, what if he IS making fun of me? When he left, he said, 'See you around, Ravenclaw,' and he laughed. He _laughed_ Paddy, like he was teasing me. It's just so confusing." Padma sighed, sinking lower as she laid down by the enormous tree.

"Don't worry, Paddy," Parvati replied, hugging her confused sister. "_I'll_ get to the bottom of this."

And she WOULD. No one made fun of her sister, even if they WERE just kidding.


End file.
